The Weekly Reflektion 15/2025
The Baltimore Bridge collapse of one year ago illustrated the vulnerability of infrastructure and the consequences of not taking adequate measures to assure its integrity. It is our job to ensure that the risk picture regarding our facilities and operation are up to date.
Are updates to risk assessments milestones that are important to you?
The collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge just over a year ago, on March 26, 2024, serves as a poignant reminder of the critical importance of proactive risk assessment and infrastructure maintenance in preventing major accidents. The incident occurred when the container ship MV Dali lost power and collided with a bridge support pier, leading to the tragic deaths of six construction workers and significant economic disruption. Grace Ocean Private Ltd, the ship’s owner, and Synergy Marine Group, its manager, agreed to pay over $100m in cleanup costs.
The Guardian newspaper recently reported that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the USA found during their investigation that the Maryland transportation authority failed to complete a recommended structural vulnerability assessment that would have shown that the bridge’s risk of collapse was 30 times higher than acceptable levels. Such examinations include determination of how vulnerable the bridges are to collapse after a ship strike, especially given the size of some modern container ships. The NTSB are calling for the urgent assessment of risk for 68named bridges across 19 states including the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
The reasons behind postponement or cancelation of a risk assessment could be a genuine inability to perform the tasks in a timely manner. This may be due to external factors but may be due to a management focus on the bottom line, and a disregard for the importance of the checks and balances built into the existing processes. This incident highlights the possible consequences of deferred risk assessments and underscores the necessity for continuous monitoring and timely intervention to address potential hazards before they escalate into disasters.
As we reflect on this event, it becomes evident that investing in preventive measures and fostering a safety-first mindset are indispensable in safeguarding lives and maintaining the integrity of infrastructure. What the management focuses on, what they talk about, gives the workforce the guidance on how to prioritise their work. The culture of a company begins at the top and is exemplified by the tone of the management.
Do you ensure that periodic updates of risk assessments to confirm, or otherwise, that the assumptions for safe operations are still valid and that measures identified for reduction of risk to an acceptable level are still in place?